Frequency hopping (FH) is a well known spread spectrum technique. As will be appreciated, frequency hopping can be used as a multiple access technique, in order to share a communications resource among numerous user groups. Since a user group typically employs a unique spread-spectrum signaling code, (e.g., frequency hopping set) privacy between individual user groups is easily established. Moreover, radio interference, such as, but not limited to co-channel interference, adjacent channel interference and Raleigh fading is greatly reduced.
Unfortunately, when a user group member seeks or requires access to a user group employing a different spread-spectrum signaling code, such as during a hand-off between network control processors (NCPs) of the frequency hopping communication system, acquisition and synchronization becomes a formidable challenge. This is due in part to the fact that each NCP has a different frequency hopping set.
It would be extremely advantageous therefore to provide a method for the fast acquisition of and synchronization to a foreign frequency hopping set in a frequency hopping communication system.